July 11, 2013

A Republican House candidate in Florida who advised onetime GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson on Hispanic issues is distancing himself from Thompson’s controversial statements on immigration reform.

Carlos Curbelo, a GOP challenger to Rep. Joe Garcia (D-Fla.), said he doesn’t agree with Thompson’s suggestion, in 2007, that immigration reform had caused the nation to be “beset by people who are suicidal maniacs.”

But Curbelo said he does agree with some of the planks of Thompson’s reform proposal at the time, and the substance of some of his arguments.

“Is there a legitimate issue with regards to border security? If the border is porous, that means anyone can get through it — undocumented immigrants that want to work, and terrorists. I do think that’s true. I think most people would agree with that,” Curbelo told The Hill.

The 30-day review approved the map of all 120 House seats, but
justices found serious deficiencies in several Senate districts. A
redrawn Senate map subsequently won the court's approval.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday handed a legal setback to the
state Legislature, ruling that a legal challenge to the remapping of
Senate districts can go forward in a lower court. The 5-2 decision is a
victory for the League of Women Voters of Florida, which is seeking to
prove that the Republican Senate majority drew the current districts in
violation of the two voter-approved "fair districts" amendments to the
state Constitution that prohibit the drawing of districts to favor
incumbents or a political party.

The Legislature was seeking a "writ of prohibition" from the state's
highest court, based on the argument that the Supreme Court has
"exclusive jurisdiction" over any redistricting challenge. Had the court
adopted that view, it would have short-circuited the legal action by
the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, the National Council of La
Raza and seven individually-named voters.

The 47-page opinion, written by Justice Barbara Pariente,rejected the
Legislature's arguments on at least six separate grounds. Justices said
their initial 30-day review of the maps in 2012, as required by the
Constitution, was a "facial" review based on limited evidence before the
court. "Our facial review left open the possibility of future
fact-intensive claims and did not preclude the future discovery or
development of evidence," Pariente wrote.

"Second, in our apportionment decisions in 1972, 1982, and 1992, this
Court specifically retained exclusive jurisdiction to consider
subsequent challenges the Court could not have adjudicated during the
limited thirty-day review period mandated by article III, section 16,"
Pariente wrote. In addition, to block future challenges "would directly
contravene the intent of the framers and voters in passing the 2010
constitutional amendment establishing stringent new standards for the
once-in-a-decade apportionment of legislative districts.”

In reaction, the lawyer for the Fair Districts citizens' group, Adam Schachter, issued a statement: “The
public has a right to know whether their elected leaders are upholding
the constitution, and today that right has been vindicated. This is an
important victory for
Floridians who voted overwhelmingly to change the way the Legislature
draws redistricting maps. We are gratified that the Supreme Court
rejected the Legislature’s attempt to shield itself from having to
defend its map in court. We look forward now to proving
our claims that the Legislature violated the Fair Districts
Amendments.”

Sen. Jack Latvala, the Clearwater Republican who chairs the Senate
Ethics & Elections Committee, says he wants Gov. Rick Scott to order
a criminal investigation of several South Florida lawmakers who may not
be living in the districts they represent -- as required by the Florida
Constitution.

Latvala told WPLG-TV in Miami that it's a "crying
shame" that some lawmakers may not live in the districts they represent,
as Channel 10 has reported. At issue are the residencies of Sen. Maria
Sachs and Reps. Perry Thurston, Hazelle Rogers, and Jared Moskowitz.

During the 2013 session, Latvala conducted a hearing on questions involving Sachs' residency. WPLG's story is here.

Department of Children and Families Chief of Staff Amanda Prater is stepping down from her post, a department spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.

Her replacement: DCF Child Abuse Prevention Coordinator Jane Johnson.

"Jane's years of service in government and nonprofits to vulnerable children and adults make her the ideal candidate for the role of chief of staff," DCF Secretary David Wilkins wrote in a statement. "She will bring energy, enthusiasm and a relentless work ethic to this role, and I look forward to working with her as we continue to improve DCF to better serve Florida’s children and families."

Johnson starts in her new role on Monday.

The transition comes at a tumultuous time for DCF.

Beginning in May, four small children whose safety had been on DCF's radar screen died under tragic circumstances over a six-week period. The deaths -- all but one in Miami-Dade and Broward counties -- occurred just as the department was set to unveil a child protection "transformation" that Wilkins insists will dramatically improve the agency's record at keeping children safe.

Wilkins also has sustained withering criticism over his efforts to exercise much greater control over the 20 or so privately run foster care agencies under contract with the state. Executives at the so-called Community-Based Care agencies say Wilkins has tried to bully them into accepting clauses in the contracts that will, among other things, give DCF veto power over the private agencies' leadership teams.

Prater served as chief of staff for about a year. She is leaving to pursue opportunities in the private sector, DCF spokeswoman Alexis Lambert said.

"We should refuse to raise the debt limit by one single cent unless we pass and the president agrees to sign a budget that shows us how we’re going to get to balance in at least 10 years," the Republican said.

"This is not an unreasonable request. They will say that it is. But it is not," Rubio said, pointing to the size of the federal debt. "They will say ‘oh, you’re going to risk default.’ The $17 trillion debt is the risk of default. The lack of any plan to fix it is the risk of default."

Rubio's comments at the Concerned Veterans for America and The Weekly Standard’s “Defend & Reform” Breakfast in Washington stopped short of offering specific solutions for tackling the debt, fixing the economy or improving regulations.

Rubio's speech also notably lacked an emphasis on what has been his signature issue for the past six months: immigration. Now that the Democrat-controlled Senate has passed a plan he helped draft, Rubio is taking a step back from the issue publicly.